Until someone invents a brain implant that lets humans control virtual reality with their minds, we're stuck with bulky headsets and the dreaded "Oculus Face." So, we might as well find out what makes these devices tick.

Teardown experts iFixit this week dug into the new $799 HTC Vive, the consumer version of which arrived last month. It features two 1080p AMOLED displays, a 90Hz refresh rate, built-in front-facing camera and microphone, 360-degree tracking, 110-degree horizontal field of view, and an accelerometer, gyroscope, and laser position sensor.

It also sports a 3.5mm audio jack, DC barrel jack, and a single HDMI port surrounded by two USB 3.0 ports, one of which iFixit pointed out is left open for third-party accessories.

"Unlike the hybrid lenses we encountered in the Oculus Rift, the Vive's lenses appear to have a uniform contour. It seems that HTC opted to control focus through adjustment of the eye relief," iFixit says.

HTC also takes a different head-tracking approach from the Facebook-owned Rift. "In the Rift, the desk-mounted camera tracked the IR emitters in the headset, whereas in the Vive, the headset sees light from the mounted IR emitters without actually 'tracking' its location."

iFixit, meanwhile, finds that the Vive's pockmarked outer shell holds a small IR filter used for tracking.

No HTC Vive teardown would be complete, though, without a look inside the accompanying controller. According to iFixit, the Steam Controller-lookalike features a touchpad, buttons, and 24 internal sensors.

"The Vive is manufactured by HTC, but it's quite evident that Valve had plenty of input on the design process. The controller touchpad is veryreminiscent of the ones we found on the Steam Controller," iFixit says.

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"Although it's a complicated bit of kit, the headset breaks down readily and without damage," iFixit said.

The head strap and face pads are easily removed, and standard screws are used throughout the headset, controllers, and base stations. Plus, "reuse of the touchpad hardware from the Steam Controller means some replacement components are likely already available," iFixit concludes.

HTC, meanwhile, recently launched a Vive companion app for iOS, which is already available for Android. From the Vive tab on your System Dashboard, respond to missed calls, read and respond to text messages, and get event reminders.

Stephanie began as a PCMag reporter in May 2012. She moved to New York City from Frederick, Md., where she worked for four years as a multimedia reporter at the second-largest daily newspaper in Maryland. She interned at Baltimore magazine and graduated from Indiana University of Pennsylvania (in the town of Indiana, in the state of Pennsylvania) with a degree in journalism and mass communications.
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